Senator Christopher “Bong” Go on Monday, August 2, said he supports the reimposition of the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) in the National Capital Region (NCR) as a preemptive response to prevent the spread of the Delta coronavirus variant.
“Ako naman, bilang Senador, tinitingnan ko syempre ang kalusugan at buhay ng bawat Pilipino at sang-ayon po ako sa karamihan na ayaw na nila ng lockdown pero siyempre po, naninigurado lang po ang ating IATF ngayon dahil meron silang nakikitang apoy na gusto nilang patayin (As a senator, I am looking at the health and lives of every Filipino and while I agree with the majority who disagree with the imposition of lockdown, the Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases just wants to kill the threat of the Delta variant before it even spreads further),” Go, chairman of the Senate Committee on Health, said.
“Ang kinatatakutan nila, ‘yong nangyari sa Indonesia, ‘yung daily cases sa Indonesia na ‘di nila nakontrol. ‘Yon ang ayaw nating mangyari dito sa ating bansa at sayang ang inumpisahan nating pagbabakuna sa ngayon dahil ang ganda na ng momentum natin sa pagbabakuna (What they are afraid of, is the one that happened in Indonesia, the daily cases in Indonesia which they failed to control. We do not want that to happen in our country. We do not also want to put to waste the good momentum of the vaccination program that we have started),” the former special assistant President Duterte added.
From August 6 to 20, the NCR will revert to ECQ. Controls at the border will also be enforced and only authorized individuals outside of their homes are permitted to enter and exit the so-called NCR Plus bubble.
Meanwhile, Go urged the executive department to ensure that assistance would be given to the poorest of the poor that would be affected when the ECQ reimposed.
“Sila naman ang apektado dito, ang mga ‘isang kahig, isang tuka’, talagang walang matakbuhan. Ito ang mga umaasa pong lumabas at magtrabaho araw-araw, sila po ang pinakaapektado dito (The ‘hand-to-mouth’ individuals are the ones to be most affected as they have no one to turn ro. They need to go out and work everyday,” he said.
The Department of Budget and Management DBM) was earlier instructed to identify funding sources for the proposed cash aid.
Aside from the re-imposition of ECQ and border controls, Go is also appealing for the reinforcement of contact tracing, the augmentation of healthcare facilities and hastening of the country’s vaccine rollout.
He also reiterated his appeal to public to follow the government health protocols.